There is nothing as nice & light as Japanese cuisine, so for a healthy start to the year be sure that PAPAYA the only Japanese supermarket in Bali is on your shopping trek. A visit to this super clean store is rather refreshing & even if a total Japanese diet isn’t your ‘bag’ you will find a host of produce & product here to satisfy your appetite!
As one enters the store, you hear the staff calling messages of greetings to you, which are picked up by other staff members, greetings reverberate around the entire store making you feel their wanted guest. There is a small convenience stand, magazines along with a few other retailers including a florist to make this a complete destination.
Papaya does have a large bakery department & one can instantly feel peckish due to the delicious aroma that wafts from their kitchen. Freshly baked breads (the counter girls forever seem to be slicing up huge loaves of bread, someone must be buying them?) & lots of pastries & cakes, try their crunchy baguettes, they are very good, there’s also a café with Wifi next to the bread department too.
Now moving across to the fruit & vegetable area you will notice that much is plastic wrapped, however, all product looks premium quality, as Japanese customers only want the best! Large imported Mutsu apples, juicy oranges, dragon fruit, excellent papayas, mangos, avocado, tomatoes along with sliced fruits & fresh fruit juice await your selection. Packets of Edame are extremely popular, healthy & if you haven’t tried these tasty soybeans, then do. Just boil some water, throw a handful in, wait until the water bubbles & froths & drain, throw a little rock salt in & you have a snack of goodness, the Japanese serve Edame with a glass of beer. Speaking of snacks, you will always find a big display of Senbei, rice crackers, which are a nice change from the usual crisps & serve another beer!
Back to the vegetables, here you will always find - bean sprouts, daikon, (white turnip) mini eggplants, Shitake mushrooms & Obha (a Japanese herb). There is also Japanese tempe called Natto (with a traditional taste) & Japanese tofu (softer than the Indonesian type) Within the egg stand, you can find Japanese eggs that are eaten raw – break an egg, stir into a bowl of hot rice, top with a little soy sauce & eat and why not!
Papaya, produce a number of home brand products, Kaisho, a yoghurt, milk, tempe & tofu. Groceries consist of many Japanese style brands, some imports along with a host of Soba rice noodles (Myojo brand) dried seaweed, a multitude of condiments to serve with dishes of – Sukiyaki, Shabu Shabu, Teriyaki & Yakatori. Oils, vinegars & rice wine to accompany your sushi, this is where you will find those fine bamboo mats which you need to roll your own California rolls, a load of Miso soup in packets (both sweet & salty) to jellied potatoes.
To the meat counter we go, firstly spy the Pork Belly Shabu Shabu – finely sliced meat with either the skin on or off, (Japanese like the skin off, but Chinese customers prefer the skin on) just throw this sliced meat into a hot pan with a little Sesame oil & the special Shabu Shabu sauce. Then, there’s thinly sliced beef or pork for Sukiyaki, into a hot pan, a little oil, & a mix of soy sauce, sugar, brown vinegar & rice wine, sounds good! Fry up some Komagire, which are tasty bites of chopped chicken or meat, or skewer some chicken or meat, this is called Yakitori (like Satay sticks) & grill, top with any sauce for your dining pleasure. By the way, most of the meat available at Papaya is imported from Australia & New Zealand & another thought for you is that Japanese food is generally sweeter, whereby Korean food is hot & spicy.
Fish, generally, the Japanese prefer eating fish the most, so there is lots of choice from all parts of the fish. Two Master Chefs work in the preparation room behind the fish counter along with a couple of trainees. They visit the fish market early every morning to bring to their customers, the top of the line in fresh produce. Tuna, swordfish, cod, sardines to mussels, prawns, octopus, calamari, cod fish roe, eggs from the flying fish, jellyfish, cuttlefish, to dried fish, kelp, cod roe & salmon mustard. The chefs prepare all the Sashimi (which is called Isikan or raw fish) every morning along with fresh Sushi (Maki) small rolls containing rice, prawns, avocado, pickle & the rest, and oh yes, don’t forget to keep stock of the all important Wasabi (Japanese mustard) & pickled ginger. Sashimi & Sushi make excellent take-outs along with Sushi Inari (pockets of tofu) prepared vegetables like Spinach, rice cakes made from red bean & other Japanese sweet buns.
And to finish off your Japanese dining experience, enjoy imported Korean ice cream, bottles of tea (without sugar) & I am told that the Korean Sake is as good as the Japanese variety.
Papaya can bring you a whole new slant on healthy eating! And thanks to Aya Matsuda (Floor & Operations Manager) for her amusing & interesting explanations.
